Chicago in winter...

...is very snowy and cold. Eight inches of snow last night, six more today. I took some good camera phone pics last night after the David Mead and HEM concert. I'll post those when I get a chance, but for now, I'd like to post a picture from my favorite tourist attraction in the city: The Bean. It helps me think warm thoughts. A friend took it with her camera phone and e-mailed it to me. There should be a word for the process of doing that, but I can't think of anything good yet.

David Mead was okay last night -- he's still plugging away at his songs from Indiana, a mellow record with lots of ballads. Schuba's is a fine venue and all, but the chatter just gets so loud when the opening act is one guy and a guitar and a falsetto.

HEM, on the other hand, was fantastic, I thought. Slide guitar, keyboard, 2 guitars, string bass, drums, and glockenspiel. I don't know how they all fit onstage, but they had a great country/bluegrass thing going on. The lead singer isn't quite Jair's type, but she has an olde tyme voice and is easy on the eyes. As Scott G. said last night, the rest of the band seemed to be competing for the title of "Other Guy on Stage Who Appears to Be Most into the Song." Lots of closed eyes and singing along, Stevie Wonder style. I bought their CD off ITunes this morning, and it's very comforting.

Finally, a shout out to Pops, whose band from church is cutting a record this afternoon. That makes 2 Kuzma's with CD's. This family sets a high bar!